Ah, my thoughts, why do you race | Ah, my thoughts, why do you race

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by Antonio Ottoboni (1646 - 1720)

Translation © by Michael P Rosewall

Ah pensier, e perché voli

Language: Italian (Italiano)

Our translations: ENG

Ah pensier, e perché voli
Sù quel labro e sù quel seno
À succhiar l’aspro veleno,
Che mi giunge insino al cor?
Nel gustarlo ti consoli,
Mà t’accorgi troppo tardi,
Che sol nettari bugiardi
San produr d’Amore i fior.

Text Authorship:

by Antonio Ottoboni (1646 - 1720) [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Domenico Scarlatti (1685 - 1757), "Ah pensier, e perché voli", published 1713, from cantata Ah pensier, e perché voli, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

ENG English (Michael P Rosewall) , "Ah, my thoughts, why do you race", copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2019-05-31
Line count: 8
Word count: 39

Ah, my thoughts, why do you race

Language: English after the Italian (Italiano)

Ah, my thoughts, why do you race
To that mouth and that breast
In order to suck the poison
That makes its way deep into my heart?
Its taste gives you comfort,
But, only too late, you realize
That only deceitful nectars
Are produced by the flowers of Love.

Text Authorship:

Translation from Italian (Italiano) to English copyright © 2026 by Michael P Rosewall, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in Italian (Italiano) by Antonio Ottoboni (1646 - 1720)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2026-07-13
Line count: 8
Word count: 49